Standardized protocols, such as the Internet Protocol (IP), the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), control how most of the data and digital content is delivered across the different data networks that form the Internet. These protocols have been developed to promote interoperability. The interoperability ensures that any device can send data to and receive data from another device so long as they communicate using the standardized protocols. As such, smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, special purpose peripherals, laptop computers, desktop computers, and other network enabled devices are able to communicate with one another. The interoperability also ensures that devices are able to communicate regardless of their network connectivity. Specifically, connection-oriented protocols, such as TCP, ensure that devices will receive their requested data regardless of whether the devices have a 1 Megabit per second (Mbps) connection, 10 Mbps, or 100 Mbps and regardless of the amount of congestion that may be present on the underlying network links used in connecting two devices.
In some cases, the desire to promote interoperability and general applicability of the protocols has come at a tradeoff of performance optimization. The result is that various inefficiencies exist within the protocols, especially when the protocols are applied in fixed, recurring, or controlled environments. When certain variables that can impact network performance are fixed or known, there is an opportunity to improve network performance by circumventing some of the protocol flow control and congestion control mechanisms that are inherent within standard networking protocols.
Accordingly, there is a need for optimized networking protocols that can take advantage of fixed or known conditions that exist in some network environments and that can leverage these conditions to bypass various slow-start mechanisms that are inherent within the protocols. Any optimizations, however, should not compromise overall interoperability such that a protocol optimized resource can continue to interoperate with a resource operating according to a standard non-optimized protocol.